Telemedicine at a Touch

By: Bernard Watemberg

Picture yourself leaving a hospital room after several days of high-quality care by trained nurses and doctors. You have just survived a high-magnitude health-related issue and now you are preparing to go back home to the support of your family. You know your case and you are at the point where doctors have told you that you must change your lifestyle, or you will die. By this point you have decided to quit smoking once and for all and begin to exercise regularly. However, the cardiologist wants to have a word with you before you leave. She explains to you that now there are apps you can download to your smartphone that will aid in the recovery and transition from hospital care to home care.

Fast advances in technology have given way to new developments in mobile platforms which help patients and people who suffer from a health condition. These apps are designed to manage the patient’s recovery and establish a daily routine to maintain balance. The concept of using apps and mobile devices to help patients is called ‘Digital Therapeutics’. Examples of digital therapeutics range from apps that track a patient’s medications to apps that assist mental health issues.

Perhaps one of the best digital therapeutic apps in today’s market is the newly developed NHS platform. The NHS is Britain’s National Health System, which is in charge of improving the health and wellbeing of patients and communities in the UK. This application allows patients to schedule doctor appointments, order prescriptions ahead of time, manage long-term health conditions (such as diabetes), and access the online communication platform with medical experts in case of immediate assistance. In addition, the new NHS app lets patients access their GP records. These records include information about medications, allergies, vaccines, previous conditions and test results. This NHS app restores all of a patient’s information, so it is available to the patient and to the medical examiner.

England’s Health and Social Care secretary, Jeremy Hunt, stated that, “Technology has transformed everyday life when it comes to banking, travel and shopping. Health matters much more to all of us, and the prize of that same digital revolution in healthcare isn’t just convenience but lives improved, extended and saved.” The statement by Mr. Hunt is evidence to the fact that thanks to the rapid advances in technology, patients will be able to take care of themselves better and doctors will be able to treat patients faster and more efficiently.

Here at Cloudonix we offer a communication platform that can be easily integrated into any digital therapeutic app. With our state of the art CPaaS, a patient’s health data and GP records are able to be logged so that a medical expert has access to a patient’s profile when necessary. This is both time and effort saving since doctors have easy and fast access to a patient’s case when needed. Also, communication between patients and doctors is fast and monitored with our platform as well as traceable by medical examiners.